Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

A jealous piano teacher Orville Spooner sends his beautiful wife, Zelda, away for the night while he tries to sell a song to a famous nightclub singer Dino, who is stranded in town.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (screenplay), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay),

Stars:

Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Martin	...	Dino
Kim Novak	...	Polly the Pistol
Ray Walston	...	Orville
Felicia Farr	...	Zelda
Cliff Osmond	...	Barney
Barbara Pepper	...	Big Bertha
Skip Ward	...	Milkman (as James Ward)
Doro Merande	...	Mrs. Pettibone
Bobo Lewis	...	Waitress
Tom Nolan	...	Johnnie Mulligan (as Tommy Nolan)
Alice Pearce	...	Mrs. Mulligan
John Fiedler	...	Rev. Carruthers
Arlen Stuart	...	Rosalie Schultz
Howard McNear	...	Mr. Pettibone
Cliff Norton	...	Mack Gray

Storyline

Dino, the charming and lecherous Las Vegas singer, stops for gas on his way to Hollywood in Climax, Nevada. The oily gas station attendant is Barney Millsap, a would-be lyricist who writes pop songs with Orville Spooner, the local piano teacher. By disabling Dino's car, Barney contrives a scheme to have Dino sing one of their songs on an upcoming TV special. To entertain Dino, Barney contacts the village tart, Polly, employing her to pretend to be Orville's wife, Zelda, for a night. She doesn't like Dino, but does love being Orville's surrogate wife. Dino goes to a bar, where he meets the real Zelda, and they spend the night together while Polly spends it with Orville.

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Plot Keywords:

piano | piano teacher | singer | nevada | nightclub | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1964 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Beija-me, Idiota

Filming Locations:

Aquarius Theater - 6230 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Phalanx Productions, Claude Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Zelda was originally written for Marilyn Monroe.

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Quotes

Dino: Did you hear a story about the girl and the lobster?
Orville J. Spooner: No, how's it go?
Dino: Well, this girl was sittin' in a movie house and this guy sat down next to her, and they were sittin' in the dark, and they were watchin' the picture, see? And suddenly she felt somethin' crawling up her leg and
[pinches Polly]
Dino: pinched her!
Polly the Pistol: [jumping] Ouch!
Orville J. Spooner: Go on!
Dino: Then she felt something crawling again and
[pinches Polly]
Dino: pinched her again! She said, "What is the idea, you pinching me?" And he said, "Well, it wasn't me...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Spin City: Kiss Me, Stupid (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor (Für Elise)"
(Pub. 1867) (uncredited)
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Tom Nolan on piano

User Reviews

Don't believe the critics.

First stumbled across late one Friday night on Tv, this is a much maligned little film. Sure, it's a little odd, perhaps confrontational given the (alleged) morality of it's era but once you get over your initial surprise that Dean Martin star of so many truly awful Jerry Lewis films made something as quirky as this, then it's well worth staying up until two in the morning like I did. Dean Martin gives a good performance as - well, Dean Martin, but the show gets stolen by the husband and wife whose marriage is busy falling apart in smalltown America when Martin turns their world topsy turvy. Wilder, it seems, cannot make bad movies and this is a refreshing twist on the now over-used "handsome stranger stuck in small town after car trouble scenario." Much better than everyone claims....